Behind This Mask
by Crimson's Void
Summary: Hyrule is on the verge of war, and as a last resort, King Daphnes has sent a contingent of novice recruits and their capable captain ahead to waylay the King of Evil and his Gerudo Army. But just who is in this group of ragtag soldiers, and what do the Goddessess have in store for them?


_a/n: this is a disney au oneshot, as requested by a friend of mine. i'm rather happy with how it turned out, tbh. let me know what you think, and see if you can't guess which movie i used as a basis ;) enjoy!_

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><p>Training with the army, even despite the previous instruction her Sheikah mentor had given her, had not been <em>nearly<em> as easy as Zelda would have thought it would be, to say the least.

Posing as a Sheikah recruit in the Hyrulean army was easy enough; Impa had taught her the art of disguise before she'd been out of diapers. What was difficult was to maintain a cold, stony facade in the face of all the soldiers. Her heart wept for the Hylians, Zoras, and Gorons she fought beside. She could show no empathy to her fellow fighters, lest they suspect something, for Sheikah were always cold. They were silent and ruthless, completing tasks nearly the second they'd been given.

In a way, the Sheikah were like the Gerudo whose army they chased now. Albeit lacking the enthusiasm for the kill, of course. None could match their bloodlust, that was certain.

Watching the other soldiers make camp from the lone hill where she herself had set up her own tent, Zelda sighed. They all seemed so _cheerful_; it was like no one knew of the near-certain slaughter they were heading for. Sitting on the grass, she pulled her harp out from her shelter and plucked the strings idly, mind drifting as the notes were carried away on the wind.

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><p>"<em>He just <strong>can't <strong>do this! It's... it's... it's **barbaric**!"_

_Zelda's shrill voice echoed around the stone walls of her bedchamber as she slammed her door shut. The resulting sound was a rather violent crash that sounded as if the door had been knocked off it's hinges._

_Surprisingly, it hadn't been. From her perch on the Princess's desk, Impa arched an eyebrow and gazed at the irritable girl with a monotonous expression._

"_I hate to say it, Princess, but he can, and he will. He's the King; and however well you may have your father wrapped around your finger, in this case, he will not bend."_

_A guttural scream of frustration was all Zelda gave in response. Storming towards her bed, she snatched up the nearest pillow and proceeded to tear it to shreds. Soon, both she and her guardian were surrounded in a flurry of feathers. Tears threatening to spill forth from her eyes, Zelda sat down, burying her face in her hands._

"_But they'll **die**. All of them. He's sent a legion of novices off to fight fully trained Gerudo warriors._

"_And then, as if to rub salt in the wound, he gives **Link** the task of leading and training them! All on his own!"_

_Sighing through her nose, Impa stood and made her way over to Zelda, kneeling down to be face to face with her. Almost uncharacteristically gently for the elder Sheikah, she took Zelda's hands into her own and removed them from her face, squeezing them slightly in comfort._

"_Of all the soldiers your father could have chosen, Link is definitely one of the most talented and qualified. Why do you worry so?"_

"_Because, Impa! If Link were training only a handful of soldiers who had experience, he would be fine! I wouldn't be worried in the least!"_

_Closing her eyes tightly, she wrenched her hands from Impa's grasp and went to her window. Placing a hand against the cool glass, she gazed out at the courtyard. As usual, she could see Link; always the last one to leave training and always the one to stay the longest._

"_He's not training a few experienced soldiers, though. He training hundreds of novices from the outer provinces."_

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><p>"I didn't know the Sheikah had an appreciation for music."<p>

Caught unawares, Zelda jumped in surprise, her mind snapping back to the present as she hid her harp and turned towards her current guest. She was, at this current moment, _very_ grateful for the white cowl that was a part of her disguise; if she didn't have it, the one person who she wished the most to hide from would see nothing but violently red cheeks.

Standing about a foot away in his green captain's uniform, Link gave her a slight smile, eyeing the harp Zelda had hastily tucked behind herself. She stared back at him, her temporarily-red eyes wide, until it occurred to her that she ought to reply.

Turning away sheepishly, she coughed, hoping it would rasp her voice enough to be unrecognizable. "We don't, not collectively. It's... just something I take an interest in. A hobby, you could say."

Link nodded understandingly, humming under his breath for a moment before he sat down next to Zelda. The girl flinched slightly, but soon relaxed her shoulders as she glanced at him in her peripheral.

Not too long ago – when she'd first joined the army, in fact -, he'd been quite suspicious of her. Even by Sheikah standards, she was quite secretive and hush-hush about her personal details, and for good reason; if anyone were to discover her identity, she'd be carted off to the castle and barricaded within her rooms.

Truthfully, she would tell Link who she really was in a heartbeat if she could.

"-... Sheik? Are you in there? Farore, you didn't get a concussion in that avalanche, did you?!"

Gasping slightly as Link shook her shoulder and brought her out of her reverie, Zelda blinked in confusion, taking in his concerned expression warily.

"Were you saying something?"

Clearly relieved by her response, although still obviously perturbed, Link nodded, moving his hand from her shoulder to the back of his head. Sucking in a breath as he gazed out at the camp down below, he gnawed thoughtfully on his lip.

"I... I wanted to thank you, again. For saving my life back there on Snowpeak. If you hadn't have rushed after me like that... well, I'd rather not think about it." he spoke quietly, wringing his hat in his hands nervously.

Right. The avalanche.

The Hyrulean army's route to the Desert lead them through the treacherous summits of the Snowpeak mountain range, in north-eastern Hyrule. Knowing the Gerudo would obviously avoid the cold and instead make their way to Lake Hylia, Link's regiment had been ordered to catch up with Ganondorf's army from behind and corner them, while the main brunt of King Daphnes' forces were to waylay them in the south. Everything had gone exceedingly well up until then, and Zelda had been surprised by how easy it had seemed.

Of course, it had been too good to be true. Somehow word had gotten to the Gerudo king of the plan, and he'd ordered a group of his elite to scale the snowy mountains and stop the recruits in any way possible; and to kill as many as they could.

The Gerudo had hidden high upon the mountains, and when they spotted the soldiers, had used several bomb-arrows to trigger an avalanche, meant to send everyone – even themselves – to a snowy tomb.

They'd lost two-hundred men. And they'd nearly lost their captain.

As head-strong as ever, Link had immediately given the command to retreat, ushering everyone to an overhanging cliff on the face of the mountain. He'd been the last one to approach the makeshift shelter; the snow had swept him away before he'd had a chance.

Zelda had nearly died when she saw him disappear in the blinding whiteness. Before anyone could stop her, she'd darted out and run along with the raging snow, silently thanking Impa for teaching her to be light of foot. She'd spotted him soon enough, being pushed along towards a bottomless ravine, and with a burst of adrenaline she didn't think she was capable of, had lunged for him, cast Nayru's love, and wrenched his hookshot from the pouch at his waist, releasing the trigger and latching them to a tree branch sticking out of the side of the mountain.

Holding both herself and an unconscious Link's weight on the sturdy, yet simple chain had been taxing on Zelda. They'd hung there for what must have been an hour, until the other soldiers deemed it safe enough to scout for their captain and the mysterious Sheikah who'd gone to his rescue.

In truth, her ribs still ached from the endeavour, and it had been several days since the fiasco had happened.

Shaking her head, Zelda sighed, turning to look at Link as he continued to twist his poor hat in his grip.

"There's nothing to think of, Captain. You're still among the living, as am I. And I am uninjured. You need not worry about me."

Link nodded absentmindedly as she spoke, glancing her way once more before rising to his feet and heading towards the main camp. He stopped halfway down the hill, though, and turned back to Zelda, an unreadable expression on his features.

"You... you should play your harp more often."

The words were barely out of his mouth before he'd turned again and made his way down the hill with all haste. A strange, fluttering feeling in her belly, Zelda watched him go, her bandage-covered fingers idly stroking the golden base of her instrument.

"... Okay, Link."


End file.
